Category: Blogs

  • After MVP, What’s Next? How to Define the Version 2.0 of Your Product

    After MVP, What’s Next? How to Define the Version 2.0 of Your Product

    Organizations that take the MVP route are able to launch their product with a handful of important features – quickly and cost-effectively. However, many get stuck not knowing what to do after MVP. As they try to incorporate all the learning post MVP, they scale their business without realizing that the risks outweigh the benefits. They don’t realize that while a Minimum Marketable Product is good to learn about customer preferences, it is also important to drive efforts towards building a Minimum Loveable Product or MLP that a handful of customers love. After all, as Sam Altman puts it, “It’s better to build something that a small number of users love, than a large number of users like.”

    Although launching an MVP can help you in evaluating the need for your product in the market, how do you go about developing version 2.0 of your product? How do you ensure your product sells in the real world? How do you ensure your audience loves your product? How do you really “define” the version 2.0?

    Read on to find out!

    Defining version 2.0

    Once you are sure your product is viable, it’s time to make it marketable. However, if you try to grow too fast, without gathering feedback from your customers, or without driving efforts towards improving performance and ensuring scalability, there is a high likelihood that your product will fail in the real world.

    Since there is a lot going on beyond the functional & technical aspects of the product at this stage, you need to transition from a project-based approach to a more product-based approach. Not only do you have to operationalize your business, you also have to invest in a core team who will take care of the functional areas of your product so your business can thrive and grow. You also have to demonstrate to prospective investors, the value your product will bring to your customers

    For success, here’s what you need to do to define version 2.0 of your product:

    Gather feedback and data

    The first step after your MVP is released to the market is to start gathering feedback and data. The experience your customers have with your MVP will lay the foundation of what features you need to build on as the next step. Your customers will be your biggest critics, and their decisions will influence your development decisions the most. When customers use your MVP, there will be some features that instantly strike a chord, but also some which do not drive value. It is through their feedback that you can get the real picture of that has worked with your customers, and what hasn’t.

    Gather customer feedback based on their experience with the product. Document all of their suggestions in one place, including interview excerpts, feature requests, and problems (or opportunities), so teams have a ready reference to the feedback as and when they need it. Use modern tracking applications to prioritize feedback and deliver the experience customers want. Don’t limit customer feedback to just the interface design; use it for more valuable aspects like product feature ideation and refinement.

    Ensure continuous estimation

    When you set out to receive feedback from your customers, you will most likely end up with a huge backlog of suggestions and ideas. Accommodating major changes can be quite challenging, especially from the technical perspective. Therefore, it is important to prioritize suggestions, and estimate the effort (and cost) that will be required to incorporate each of the ideas. Make sure to identify top features, and pair them with buying personas. Always make it a point to drive collective collaboration and build your product in an incremental manner. Keep refining initial pricing levels to optimize conversions and ROI.

    Incorporate the (desired and required) features into the product

    Any MVP is built based on your understanding of the needs of your customer. However, to build version 2.0, you need to take customers’ feedback and inputs into account and build your product such that it functions as they would like it to function. Taking customer inputs and feedback seriously is the only way you can ensure your product doesn’t veer along unexpected paths. Enlist all the features or improvements that have been suggested; break them down into sprints or user stories, and develop the most important features in every sprint.

    Work on improving performance

    It doesn’t take a lot of time for your customers to shift from your product to your competitor’s. Performance should always be your priority; but many startups get overwhelmed with a sudden surge in customers. If you do not have a plan in place to cater to an increasing pool of users, you will end up losing the ones you have.  Therefore, scalability is something you need to be very serious about while defining version 2.0 of your product.

    Make improving performance the main goal at every stage; constantly incorporate customer feedback into the product in the form of features and address the needs of your existing customers. Make sure you are ready to handle full-fledged traffic after the release of the product in the real world. This will not only help you to improve the experience your customers have with the version 2.0 of your product, it will also help in providing the most value.

    Make the product bug-free

    In a world where thousands of products get launched every day, providing a high-quality, bug-free product is a requisite for business success. Any issue with your product, and you can lose your customers – with the blink of an eye. While defining version 2.0 of your product, it is important you incorporate appropriate testing procedures and quality standards to make your product bug-free. Make use of continuous testing, and test automation suites to make sure your product meets the needs of your larger audience. Ensure your product meets the specified quality requirements across different scenarios, loads, and users.

    Put the right foot forward

    You can begin your 2.0 journey by strategizing a roadmap for launching your product into the real world. Understand why you are developing the product, for which users, in which market, and with which features. Correspondingly prioritize your feature set and your pricing model you think will resonate with your target audience. Don’t be rigid about clinging to your understanding of customer needs; be open to what your customers say and incorporate their feedback into the product for better success. Bon voyage!

    Our Services

    Solar Energy Analytics | Healthcare App Development | Offshore Software Product Development | Digital Product Development

    Nitin

    Nitin Tappe

    After successful stint in a corporate role, Nitin is back to what he enjoys most – conceptualizing new software solutions to solve business problems. Nitin is a postgraduate from IIT, Mumbai, India and in his 24 years of career, has played key roles in building a desktop as well as enterprise solutions right from idealization to launch which are adopted by many Fortune 500 companies. As a Founder member of Pratiti Technologies, he is committed to applying his management learning as well as the passion for building new solutions to realize your innovation with certainty.

  • 7 Amazing Use Cases of IoT in Healthcare

    7 Amazing Use Cases of IoT in Healthcare

    Introduction

    When we think of IoT in healthcare, we mainly tend to think of smart sensors and smart hospitals. But the solutions go beyond these. It is evident from the fact that spending on IoT solutions in healthcare will reach $1 trillion by 2025!

    IoT promises to help healthcare organizations in providing personalized, accessible, and up-to-the-point healthcare services at a lower cost. From remote health monitoring to transmitting real-time alerts, there are several areas where healthcare IoT finds its use.

    7 Exciting IoT Use Cases in Healthcare

    Let’s look at some of them to get a better perspective:

    Remote Patient Care

    In many parts of the world, residents live miles away from the nearest hospital. As such, when there is an emergency, it takes time for them to reach the healthcare facilities. Similarly, for healthcare providers, it becomes difficult to visit patients with chronic conditions frequently. The issue with time-consuming commute can be solved with remote patient care powered by the IoT.

    The connectivity can allow healthcare professionals to assist patients with prescriptions, medication, and also measure their biometrics using sensors and remote equipment. For instance, patients can connect any wearable or portable device to the cloud and update the data in real-time.

    Some of the IoT devices can also facilitate face-to-face talk over the internet. This can provide healthcare professionals with the necessary information to prepare care plans while the patients are on their way to the hospital. Or even without them needing to visit the hospital in the first place! For chronic patients, this helps create a roster of the patients’ day-to-date health update.

    The collected data can form charts and diagrams to be easily visualized by healthcare professionals.

    Live video and audio streaming can be used to monitor patients’ present condition without the need for the commute.

    Emergency Care

    Emergency care outputs are based on the time, accuracy, and the availability of contextual information. Moreover, it also depends on the quality of the data received during the emergency call and the information collected while the patient is being transported for immediate care at the healthcare facilities. Also, the entire process of collecting, storing, processing, and retrieving the data during that time is laborious and time-consuming. IoT can help in collecting data accurately, which can be accessed by emergency care staff such as paramedics or staff in the ER for quick and better medical assistance. This data can be also be transmitted to ER staff in real-time while the patient is on her way to the hospital – allowing the hospitals to be better prepared for the care.

    Tracking of Inventory, Staff, and Patients

    Healthcare organizations are all about increasing the efficiencies of their workforce and reduce operational costs. This is true for both small and large institutions that include several staff members, patients, and inventory. Using IoT devices in the form of wireless ID cards, hospitals can manage admissions, increase the security, and measure the overall performance of the staff. BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) beacons and RFID tags can be used to track the location of the inventory and also trace the staff members in case of any urgency.

    Moreover, IoT and RTLS (Real-Time Location Systems) together can facilitate asset tracking. This is one of the most inexpensive ways to keep track of the equipment, drugs, and free resources, who can then spend more time on patient care.

    Must Read: How IoT Is Transforming Healthcare

    Augmenting Surgeries

    When it comes to healthcare, IoT has penetrated operating rooms as well. Think of connected robotic devices, which are powered by Artificial Intelligence and are used to perform various surgeries. These operations are all about increased precision brought forth by robot-assisted surgeons. Moreover, connected devices and IoT applications can perfectly streamline the activities of the medical staff at both pre and post-operating stages. In both cases, IoT sensors can be used to collect, transmit data, and analyze it. This helps record the tiniest details and therefore, is useful in preventing surgical complications.

    Virtual Monitoring of Critical Hardware

    It is a given that all the modern healthcare facilities require state-of-the-art hardware and software to function. When these are not taken care of in the best possible manner, the hardware can pose various risks and threats. Think of power outages, system failures, or even cyber-attacks. Since no healthcare organization would want these mishaps to occur, they opt for the best IoT driven solutions. A case in point is that of e-Alert by Philips, which can virtually monitor critical medical hardware. If there is an anomaly in any equipment, the solution alerts the hospital staff, so that a failure can be avoided by preventive maintenance.

    Pharmacy Management

    The pharmacy business is worth millions of dollars and is quite complicated. Since there are several steps in transferring and managing the drugs from plant to storage facilities in a hospital, there are several preservation issues that may be associated with them.  IoT can help combine the best safety approaches and the latest technology to ensure faster drug delivery, safer operations, and better patient care.

    For instance, take the example of smart fridges, which can be used to store vaccines and keep them from getting damaged during handling, storage or transfer.

    IoT-enabled pharmacies can ensure greater efficiencies and effectiveness in operations, error-free medical dispensing, security, and overall enhanced patient satisfaction.

    Must Read: Key Challenges with Enterprise IoT Applications

    Wearables

    IoT devices, in the form of wearables, can let the care teams collect numerous data points about the patient’s sleep patterns, activity, heart rate, temperature,  and so on. These wearables can offer real-time information to caregivers and patients. Think of a situation in which a heart patient has an elevated heart-rate. The wearable will immediately transmit the signal to the nursing staff and allow them to provide immediate and timely assistance to the patient. This can also help in remote health monitoring of elderly patients who are outside the hospital premises but need constant monitoring.

    IoT in healthcare has tremendous potential and can prove to be immensely beneficial for healthcare providers and patients. It is set to transform patient care and organizational efficiencies. Several hospitals around the world have already leveraged the power of IoT under their smart hospital initiatives. At Pratiti, we have helped several healthcare organizations with the design and development of their smart healthcare software development solutions.

    Connect with us to know how we can help you improve patient care, reduce complexity, improve efficiency, and empower decision-makers with actionable insights at the point of care.

    Frequently Asked Questions

    How is IoT Used in Healthcare?

    Remote monitoring in the healthcare industry is now possible thanks to IoT devices, which have the ability to keep patients safe and healthy while also enabling healthcare providers to provide improved treatment. As communication with doctors has gotten easier and more efficient, it has also boosted patient interaction and satisfaction. Furthermore, remote monitoring of a patient’s health helps to shorten hospital stays and avoid re-admissions. IoT in healthcare has a big impact on lowering healthcare expenses and improving treatment outcomes.

    What are the Advantages of IoT in Healthcare?

    The advantages of internet of things in healthcare applications lies in remote use cases. For example, in the event of a medical emergency, real-time remote monitoring via connected IoT devices and smart notifications can detect illnesses, treat diseases, and save lives.

    Smart sensors monitor health status, lifestyle choices, and the environment to suggest preventative steps that will limit the occurrence of diseases and acute states.

    Medical data accessibility allows patients to receive high-quality care while also assisting healthcare providers in making the best medical decisions.

    What are the Challenges of IoT in Healthcare?

    Although there are numerous advantages as seen in internet of things in healthcare examples, there are also challenges.

    Healthcare providers are frequently tasked with ensuring the security of several sites as well as vast data repositories.

    Moreover, moving an entire facility to a new system and practice takes time, and the initial investment and installation costs can be prohibitive, particularly for smaller healthcare facilities and rural clinics.

    Nitin
    Nitin Tappe After successful stint in a corporate role, Nitin is back to what he enjoys most – conceptualizing new software solutions to solve business problems. Nitin is a postgraduate from IIT, Mumbai, India and in his 24 years of career, has played key roles in building a desktop as well as enterprise solutions right from idealization to launch which are adopted by many Fortune 500 companies. As a Founder member of Pratiti Technologies, he is committed to applying his management learning as well as the passion for building new solutions to realize your innovation with certainty.
  • What Has to Happen for Cloud Adoption to Increase In Fintech

    What Has to Happen for Cloud Adoption to Increase In Fintech

    Mounting data volumes, the ever-evolving regulatory landscape, crippling legacy infrastructure, and intense competition is putting a lot of pressure on financial organizations.

    Most industries have taken the cloud route – 83% of enterprise workloads are expected to be in the cloud by 2020. But FinTech has rather been slow in cloud adoption. Concerns over cloud security, along with strict regulations, has made it tough for FinTech companies to embrace the cloud.
    But that doesn’t mean the industry cannot benefit from the cloud. The use cases of cloud in FinTech are immense: from increased speed of payment processing to reduced network latency, a dependable backend infrastructure, and more. Using an infrastructure that is global, scalable, and delivers the lowest possible latency has a significant impact on the quality of the service being provided.

    However, for the industry to witness widespread adoption, a lot needs to be done. Here’s what has to happen for cloud adoption to increase in FinTech:

    One size doesn’t fit all

    With the day-to-day challenges faced by financial institutions sky-rocketing, moving to the cloud is probably the best business strategy. In other industries, irrespective of the size, type, or scale of the organization, a one size fits all approach usually works. The same approach just doesn’t work for in FinTech. For the cloud to really witness massive adoption in FinTech, it is important for cloud providers to standardize services to exceptionally high standards, so it can cater to the unique needs of the industry. Providers who offer specialized service offerings and customize offerings to suit to individual use cases and specific mission-critical workloads will clearly have an edge.

    Not all things cloud can be done alone

    For FinTech to maximize value from their tech investments, moving to the cloud is a plausible option. However, given the scalability and latency benefits that the cloud provides, it is important to ensure that financial institutions are making a move to the cloud correctly. Organizations need to start by choosing the right cloud service partner that is ideal for their needs. The decision will largely depend on the specific needs of the organization, the overall strategy, and the regulatory requirements that the organization is required to meet. Assessing what data is appropriate and necessary to migrate to the cloud is also vital – and it doesn’t necessarily have to be an all or nothing approach. At the same time, partners need to have a firm understanding of the relevant compliance landscape and devise strategies that can drive higher levels of compliance.

    FinTech teams have to move beyond their comfort zone

    Due to the regulatory nature of the industry, FinTech teams have long been accustomed to using legacy technology, on-premises data centers, and LOB systems to carry out day-to-day tasks. However, for teams to improve visibility, and remain competitive, adoption of digital technologies such as cloud and mobile and IoT is needed to really drive value. Since only the businesses that can deliver value and convenience through digital channels are the ones that are going to succeed in the future, FinTech roles have to undergo a significant transformation. Team roles have to convert into support and consultation for various aspects of cloud adoption, including service selection, provider selection, engagement, and management. Teams also have to allow for a new operating model, so they can quickly implement new ideas and tap into new revenue streams and acquire new customers.

    Providers need to assure higher security

    As the regulatory landscape intensifies, security is becoming a major challenge for those looking to embrace the cloud. 66% of professionals say security is their biggest concern in adopting an enterprise cloud computing strategy. For cloud adoption to experience a surge in FinTech, vendors should drive efforts to guarantee higher security. It is important for the cloud hosting environment to comply with the highest standards of information security management. At the same time, they need to look at more secure technologies like Blockchain to strengthen their security posture. Maintaining the confidentiality of financial information of customers and internal company data is crucial in Fintech. Blockchain can ensure the required levels of encryption and enable secure storage of confidential information to minimize chances of risk.

    Regulatory transparency has to improve

    Given the nature of the FinTech industry, the risks involved in outsourcing data to the cloud carry far greater potential consequences. For the cloud to become an integral part of FinTech, it is essential that regulatory bodies respond to changes in the use of cloud, while continuing to place strict compliance requirements on financial institutions and their associated cloud partners. Transparency across the regulatory environment also has to increase, so providers and financial institutions can work in tandem to provide a robust and agile compliance framework – that is able to meet the ever-growing needs of the industry – and carefully plan for, and monitor compliance.

    Are you ready?

    To enjoy scalability and resilience benefits offered by cloud solutions, financial institutions, cloud providers, and regulatory bodies need to take steps in the right direction and work towards bringing the barriers to cloud adoption down. Is your organization ready for the cloud transformation?

    Our Services

    Digital Twin Platform | Healthcare App Development | IoT development services | Digital Product Development

    Nitin

    Nitin Tappe

    After successful stint in a corporate role, Nitin is back to what he enjoys most – conceptualizing new software solutions to solve business problems. Nitin is a postgraduate from IIT, Mumbai, India and in his 24 years of career, has played key roles in building a desktop as well as enterprise solutions right from idealization to launch which are adopted by many Fortune 500 companies. As a Founder member of Pratiti Technologies, he is committed to applying his management learning as well as the passion for building new solutions to realize your innovation with certainty.

  • Yes, IoT Product Development is Different

    Yes, IoT Product Development is Different

    As organizations seek to become digitally savvy, Internet of Things (IoT) has emerged as a key technology enabler for Digital Transformation.

    Through efficient analysis of real-time data, IoT is assisting enterprises with better decision-making, efficiency, and productivity, while proving to be exceptional drivers of growth across industries.

    For organizations that get IoT right, the benefits are abundant. However, IoT product development is extremely challenging; a lot goes into making IoT products work. And although the basic process of development is similar to software product development, there’s a lot more that goes into IoT product development.
    So, what’s so different about IoT product development? Let’s dive right in!

    The complexity of prototyping

    The prototyping process is critical for any product development as it allows teams to demonstrate – via mockups and wireframes, in the case of software products – what the final product will look like, ensure its performance, and determine if improvements are needed. However, IoT prototyping is a lot more complex than software prototyping.

    In IoT product development, because of the absence of pre-existing architectures and libraries, you will have to build your own components and create your own path. Assuming most users aren’t familiar with IoT, you will have to provide detailed setup and use instructions and ship physical devices to beta users to get feedback. Such an elaborate process would automatically impact your feedback time and testing cycles and make your prototyping far more complex as compared to traditional software products.

    Choosing the right platform

    Unlike in software development, where choosing a platform depended on what tasks the software is intended to perform, in IoT product development, you need to choose a platform which manages the device as well as performs advanced data storage and processing tasks with the required systems within the ecosystem. The platform should also be capable of providing APIs that will allow apps to communicate with the IoT device.

    You need to consider a variety of factors while choosing the right platform: the number of devices the IoT solution will support, the volume and velocity of data that the product would be required to process, UI capabilities, integration with APIs, data sources, and proprietary systems, as well as how the platform will be implemented and maintained.

    Making the IoT product scalable

    In software development, scalability concerns are typically addressed by adding more servers or increasing cloud capacity. But because IoT products are part of a large network of connected objects, sharing and exchanging data continuously via the Internet, as technology advances, they need to evolve from performing simple analysis tasks to more complex functions, such as power grid optimization, production control, and more.

    This continuous shift demands that IoT products are highly scalable – not just to accommodate an increasing number of connected objects, but also to carry out more complex tasks with time. For making IoT products scalable, you will have to use the web and mobile interfaces that scale, web workers, asynchronous communication paths, edge computing, among others.

    Integrating security

    While security is a critical part of software product development as well, what makes it different for IoT products is the ecosystem in which they belong. The continuous digital connectivity IoT products have with one another presents higher security vulnerabilities and loopholes. Any small breach or hacking can result in unauthorized access to critical data, and it can bring the entire ecosystem down.

    It is important to integrate data security into the development process from the word go: from basic authentication to the most advanced levels of platform security, hardware security modules, end-to-end encryption, API security, cloud security and more.

    Data storage and analytics

    When it comes to data storage and analytics, most software products are expected to unearth insight about user behavior and performance issues. However, IoT products generate a high volume of data, all of which has to be efficiently stored in storage systems with various retention policies. In addition, the data has to be continuously analyzed to allow users to gain actionable insights and drive higher throughput.

    IoT product development requires you to invest in advanced data storage systems, as well as in compelling analytics software with data visualization capabilities that make it easy to spot trends and take action. Choosing the right analytics platform can not only help in predicting results based on the data captured by the device, but also in detecting deviations from known usage patterns, and enabling users to take appropriate action.

    Connectivity and communication

    In the classic software world, connectivity is limited to physical servers and the cloud. However, given the extended scope of IoT products, the network gets extended to hardware devices as well. Each IoT device will have to be developed using a different connectivity mechanism and communication protocol – depending on what functions the product is expected to perform. From RFID and NFC to ZigBee Bluetooth and more.

    One needs to use the right communication protocols that accurately determine the source of data, understand the type, and send it to the data processing engine. It also needs to be ensured that the protocols are configured such that they can support a substantial volume, velocity, and variety of data from different devices, and offer an adequate level of fault tolerance.

    Build cutting-edge IoT products

    With more and more devices getting connected to the Internet, the IoT market is bursting at the seams. As 31 billion connected devices become available in 2020, there is an IoT revolution taking place.

    And although IoT is arguably one of the most impressive evolutions in recent technology history, IoT product development is not without challenges. The complexity of prototyping, choosing the right platform, making products scalable, integrating security, enabling data storage and analytics, and building the right connectivity and communication – it is the right amalgamation of all these aspects that allow you to build cutting-edge IoT products, and change the way the world operates and communicates.

    Our Services

    Offshore Software Product Development | Digital Twin Software Platforms | Industrial IoT Solutions | Digital Product Development

    Nitin
    Nitin Tappe After successful stint in a corporate role, Nitin is back to what he enjoys most – conceptualizing new software solutions to solve business problems. Nitin is a postgraduate from IIT, Mumbai, India and in his 24 years of career, has played key roles in building a desktop as well as enterprise solutions right from idealization to launch which are adopted by many Fortune 500 companies. As a Founder member of Pratiti Technologies, he is committed to applying his management learning as well as the passion for building new solutions to realize your innovation with certainty.
  • What Makes Virtual Reality an Integral Part of Ongoing Industry 4.0 Initiatives

    What Makes Virtual Reality an Integral Part of Ongoing Industry 4.0 Initiatives

    Change is the only constant thing in this world, and it is clearly reflected through the industrial arena as well. In the present Age of Industry 4.0 is the age of digitization and automation. The fourth industrial revolution is smarter and more agile. Its autonomous systems are powered by data exchange and machine learning. It would not be wrong to say that the fourth revolution focuses mainly on the digitalization of the industry, and it is happening at an impressive rate. The use of Virtual Reality (VR) technology in today’s industries is opening new doors of opportunity, particularly in the arena of manufacturing.

    What VR technology is anyway?

    This technology makes use of powerful computers to come up with a simulated environment. But how does it help? VR technology can open up a huge array of amazing possibilities for industries like automobile, renewable energy, and manufacturing of complex types of equipment. From examining properties in 360 degrees to obtaining a situational awareness, there are many ways VR technology can make things easier for the industries. It can help save time as well as production cost. In short, makers will be able to come up with more refined and accurate solutions.

    How VR technology can be used?

    Product design:

    When it comes to designing a product in which safety remains a prime concern, the use of VR technology can make things easier. For the automotive industry, 3D models can help the makers understand or know how the vehicle would perform and look in real. VR can also help visualize how different part will work together and fit with each other.

    Likewise, in the case of renewable energy, the efficiency of wind turbines and solar power plants can be improved significantly with the use of VR technology. The process of troubleshooting a problem in an offshore wind turbine can be made easier with the application of VR technology. This is where the use of Digital Twin technology proves to be more effective. Creating a replica of an entire wind farm or solar power plant with the help of Digital Twin technology is the best way to increase efficiency and reduce downtime, which in turn would lead to increased production. So, this is just one of the many examples of how VR technology can bring in significant changes in today’s industries.

    Nowadays, better connectivity along with increased computer power is making factories more productive. The use of Digital Twin technology by GE Renewable for its wind farm in North America has already proved to be a great move. Through VR technology and advanced analytics, GE Renewable has been able to optimize its 15,000 wind turbines digitally. It has resulted in an increased MW-hour output between the range of 5 and 7 percent. In the Industry 4.0 revolution, the role of VR technology has been the most important one so far.

    VR Simulation in Training

    Companies are increasingly using VR to create immersive training experiences, helping train employees on real-life scenarios. Workers with difficult jobs can sharpen their skills without the dangers of the real world.

    As VR is immersive and compelling learners absorb information faster and retain longer as VR gives a real-life experience.

    Applicability of Virtual Reality for In-Person and Remote Collaboration

    Virtual reality can help create a share shared virtual workspace connecting several people around the same project. Users from different locations will see each other, visualize and work on the same virtual model. This can improve communication between co-workers to pursue validation processes without a physical meeting.

    VR for SMART Factories

    3D Virtual simulations can be used in plant operations to monitor and analyze real-time data and create a mirror image of the physical world in a virtual model. This includes machines, products, sensors, and humans. It helps drive down machine setup time and improve quality.

    VR has tremendous scope for contributing to the evolution of Industry 4.0 At Pratiti technologies we help businesses use AR VR for simulations, O&M, training for complex products/Operations and Remote Monitoring and Maintenance.

    We recently helped a customer working in solar energy sector develop a Virtual Reality (VR) based technology solution, which provides highly immersive training to the user with the help of a head-mounted display, coupled with 6 Degrees of Freedom controllers. Read the case study here

    Our Services

    Solar Energy Analytics | Healthcare App Development | Industrial IoT Solutions | Digital Product Development

    Nitin

    Nitin Tappe

    After successful stint in a corporate role, Nitin is back to what he enjoys most – conceptualizing new software solutions to solve business problems. Nitin is a postgraduate from IIT, Mumbai, India and in his 24 years of career, has played key roles in building a desktop as well as enterprise solutions right from idealization to launch which are adopted by many Fortune 500 companies. As a Founder member of Pratiti Technologies, he is committed to applying his management learning as well as the passion for building new solutions to realize your innovation with certainty.

  • Software Development for Startups: Expectations vs. Reality

    Software Development for Startups: Expectations vs. Reality

    There comes a stage when all startups hit a wall–the business is a couple of years old, is scaling well and has ample seed funding to start exploring new avenues. Everything is working great and then comes the big question, “How to move your product to a new level? What features to add that connect better with users and gain better market share?” Developing a business software application is usually considered the most challenging aspect for budding startups. Should an in-house software development team be built up or should third-party alternatives such as outsourcing be utilized? These are questions that every startup faces at some point.

    When deciding to outsource a start-up has many expectations from the provider; an outsourcing product development company, who can enhance the idea better and define specifics, an expert tech team, an expedite delivery and the value add. The on-ground reality can be completely different. Let us have a quick look at some of the expectations vs. realities of software development for startups.

    Expectations

    • Requirements defining:

    A start-up will have a great idea, enthusiasm, and funding as well at times, what it may not have is a related experience and enough resources, hence choose to outsource.
    The expectation from a software company that they choose is to document the idea, give it the right shape, define processes around its execution and help traverse the journey of software development in an organized way.

    • Technical expertise:

    This is an essential skill that a start-up would like to see in the software vendor it chooses as it is important for the vendor to be able to cater to the expanding requirements of its products with evolving technologies. Working with one vendor who can take care of end-to-end technical requirements is what a start-up looks for, rather than a multi-vendor approach.

    • Expert developers:

    Software development includes diverse responsibilities, for e.g. implementing new features, analyzing requirements, and fixing bugs. Start-ups expect that their hired talent has development expertise, including exposure to programming and desired qualities of software engineering.

    • Quick turnaround:

    Developing product in-house can be a challenge for a start-up as skilled developers and moreover enough developers, and an array of expertise for a timeline delivery can be a roadblock. Comparatively quicker delivery of the product becomes easier with an established software company with an expert developers’ team and tried and tested models and automation processes, helping them to go live in a quick time period.

    • User-centricity:

    Startups expect the developed software to be technically robust and at the same time be user-friendly for better market acceptance. A simple and attractive user interface that is not difficult to navigate and easy to search the required functions.

    Reality

    All start-ups diving into software development for the first time will have the aforementioned expectations. That said, reality varies from expectations (to large extents) during many phases of the complete software development life cycle.

    • Requirements:

    Start-ups believe that their software requirements are pretty well defined and would not need much alteration, but they forget to consider that business requirements can be pretty dynamic. Moreover, since startups are themselves on a new journey, well-defined requirements are very early to foresee. As startups scale, so does their business, which means the inflow of more projects and thus changing requirements. The ground reality is that this statement is true for most startups. Therefore, though the opening structure is well defined, over time, most startups grow and their requirements become myriad.

    So an outsourcing software development company needs to look at the product from all aspects; consider the future scope for enhancements, give thought to market acceptance, and be agile to address the changing requirements to enhance the product.

    • Meeting Pre-Defined Timelines

    Contrary to expectations, meeting timelines can be extremely difficult for startups because of the changing requirements. Startup owners always aim for cost optimization: work is hectic and resources are few—a common startup scenario. Therefore, the pressure to meet deadlines is exceptionally high. In reality, an unorganized or rigid vendor may not be able to meet with fast-paced working culture in a startup.

    Choosing to outsource product development to an organized software vendor like Pratiti can help plan the project better and stick to the timelines. We empathize with the needs of the startup and are flexible giving the ease of scaling the team, as required.

    Read our E-book on guide to successful product development to understand how we help bring structure and organization to a dynamic software development process.

    • Keeping projects User-focused

    Though startups initially start with the dream of making a user-centric product, with time and the tasks piling up, it is only natural for startups to focus on the “features list” rather than on customizing and modifying the solutions to address the customer needs. Therefore, application development becomes a “checklist practice” rather than with the aim of creating a solution that caters to specific client requirements.

    A right development partner who has the experience and empathizes with the customer will have the foresight to understand what the end users want and what the market will accept, and then plan the development accordingly.

    • Best practices and standard processes

    Every software development project should have a well-defined blueprint and follow best practices to ensure the final output is as close as possible to the desired application. Thus, requirements should be carefully documented, At Pratiti we do this with product definition. We understand the developing a new product is a journey as the market is dynamic and any idea matures over a period of time. Hence we provide the best craftsmen to craft your tech journey.
    Know how we recently helped a startup traverse the tech journey for a post-acute healthcare product.

    Conclusion

    It is a well-established fact that startups encounter several inconsistencies between their software development expectations and the actual reality. However, there are several simple steps that can help bridge this gap. Outsourcing the development to a reliable software development company like Pratiti can ensure these hiccups are avoided and the best practices are followed since day one.

    Our Services

    Solar Energy Analytics | Healthcare App Development | Industrial IoT Solutions | Digital Product Development

    Nitin
    Nitin Tappe After successful stint in a corporate role, Nitin is back to what he enjoys most – conceptualizing new software solutions to solve business problems. Nitin is a postgraduate from IIT, Mumbai, India and in his 24 years of career, has played key roles in building a desktop as well as enterprise solutions right from idealization to launch which are adopted by many Fortune 500 companies. As a Founder member of Pratiti Technologies, he is committed to applying his management learning as well as the passion for building new solutions to realize your innovation with certainty.
  • How Digital Twin Technology Is Changing the Solar Power Generation?

    How Digital Twin Technology Is Changing the Solar Power Generation?

    The growth in the solar energy sector has been quite impressive and is the need of the hour. As per 2018, International Renewable Energy Agency report, the global capacity of renewable energy output has reached 2,179 GW, With the marked increase in solar capacity, solar energy witnessed an impressive growth rate of 32 percent! In short, the future of solar power plants looks as bright as the Sun.

    Nevertheless, it is also a fact that there are still a number of challenges associated with solar power plants in terms of the output, operations, and efficiency of the plants. Some of them are:

    Unmonitored inefficiency

    Lack of monitoring often leads to wastage of solar energy getting wasted affecting the output of solar power plants. It’s physically impossible to monitor solar plants, also a visual check is not the most effective measure most of the time.

    Lack of information on energy generation and forecast

    Solar power generation depends on the location of the plant, season, weather conditions, solar panels, and overall plant efficiency. The ability to Reliably forecast electricity generation can help a solar plant in multiple ways mainly, Improved predictability can help better plan the energy consumption, this can in turn help, better policy formation, improved contracts, and more efficient operations.

    Evolution of IoT has made tons of data available, Digital Twin technology enables an analysis of this data to give meaningful insights. So let’s dig deeper.

    What is Digital Twin technology?

    In simple words, it is a virtual system that replicates the model of a process, service, or product. This technology is based on the pairing of the physical worlds with the virtual one, which allows the analysis of huge chunks of data and close monitoring of systems.

    So, How Does Digital Twin help?

    Data gathering and its in-depth analysis prove to be useful in predictive and preventive analysis and actions. It helps us prevent downtime and create increase output. Most importantly, this digital twin allows us to plan for the future, which is made possible with the help of simulations.

    At Pratiti Technologies, we have gained a ton of expertise in this field, which has resulted in the development of Helios, our digital twin-based analytics engine.

    What Results You Can Expect from this Technology?

    The implementation of Helios, the digital twin-based analytics engine developed by Pratiti Technologies can have significant effects on the performance, ROI, and output of the solar power plants. This is how it works:

    • Close monitoring helps improve the predictability of all the solar panels in the system. With the use of real-time simulation, it becomes easier to assess the present condition of each part of the grid. This way, the operators can do predictive maintain ace in the grid.
    • The Digital Twin technology developed by Pratiti Technologies is quite effective in closely analyzing how the solar PV cells perform during various conditions. The virtual plant also allows administrators to replicate different scenarios and figure out how the upgraded panels would respond to them. This way, the production of more efficient solar PV panels becomes easier.
    • Forecasting is one of the key aspects of today’s Digital Twin technology, which ensures optimum solar plant performance. Helios enables the mapping of the solar grid to a virtual program ensuring better utilization of the whole system.
    • Improved ROI is ensured through operation insights. Auto-generated alarms and performance benchmarks help minimize the losses and improve output at the same time.

    The implementation of Digital Twin technology like Helios can make a solar power plant commercially more viable. Just for your note, this blog was initially published on energycentral.com

    Nitin

    Nitin Tappe

    After successful stint in a corporate role, Nitin is back to what he enjoys most – conceptualizing new software solutions to solve business problems. Nitin is a postgraduate from IIT, Mumbai, India and in his 24 years of career, has played key roles in building a desktop as well as enterprise solutions right from idealization to launch which are adopted by many Fortune 500 companies. As a Founder member of Pratiti Technologies, he is committed to applying his management learning as well as the passion for building new solutions to realize your innovation with certainty.

  • Why Software Product Development Needs to Focus on Journeys Rather Than Solutions?

    Why Software Product Development Needs to Focus on Journeys Rather Than Solutions?

    In the present competitive world, businesses prefer outsourcing their software product development requirements to the dedicated IT and tech companies. After all, the Outsourced Product Development or OPD service providers can provide you with the much-needed competitive edge as they have expertise available to deliver an apt solution. But the reality is that most software/IoT products fail to generate desired results and many a time, require enhancement after the project completion.

    The software development methodology followed by an OPD player plays a vital role in the product’s success.

    We believe that the tech product development focus needs to shift from the existing project-focused to a journey-focused one, bringing true agile methodologies to work.

    Many times, the traditional project-focused model does not offer an in-depth understanding of what the customers actually want. Teams work only in silos and do not understand the project landscape; Lack of this understanding becomes a hindrance in the process of developing the product. Developing products which fail to fulfill market requirements.

    Real Life Example

    A case in point is the recent healthcare start-up we worked with. The Start-up wanted to develop a comprehensive IoT based health care product. The clients envisioned to address the pressing post-acute care issue in the European market with an IoT solution that can ensure complete recovery for patients’ post-treatment.

    The customer wanted to develop a product that would directly capture vital health parameters of the patients like temperature, blood pressure, glucose, etc. from the medical devices. They also wanted an Integration with e-commerce companies helping direct ordering through an app. Further integrations were envisaged with Care providers, Hospitals and even insurance companies.

    Once the customer approached us, we at Pratiti employed our design thinking-based product definition framework to really empathize and understand the problem customer wanted to solve using technology.

    This resulted in an improved understanding of the actual customer needs. The result was we were able to Say “NO” to initial requirements of the customer. We were able to help the customer understand their real requirement. This reduced the initial requirements.

    We were also able to reduce the MVP (Minimum Viable Product) development time, and costs associated with the product development also reduced significantly.

    The customer was able to take this MVP to the market and do trials and understand the usefulness of the solution developed. This helped customer launch the product earlier at a lower cost and prioritize the features needed in the product in a phased manner.

    Thus, we enabled the tech journey for the customer. We continue to engage with this customer and partner together to bring new enhancement and features in the product.

    Innovation Requires Continuous Development

    New emerging business requires continuous enhancement to the product. Let’s take an example of Uber that of ride-hailing start-up Uber. They have perfected the art of changing its dimensions as per the requirements of the present market situation. Uber always focuses on bringing in new features to its business, like they use the taxi for advertisement, uber eats now offers food on the go and much more.

    The company knows that to survive in this competitive world, it has to keep on innovating. In the same way, to produce better quality software tech product, one needs to keep developing the technology, thus we say that tech development is a continuous journey.

    We at Pratiti Technologies have skilfully mastered this art. We partner with our client as their technology partners and ensure we craft a smooth tech journey for them.  We ensure the right product definition and follow a unique tech development process (Download free guide here) to ensure successful tech development for the clients.

    Our Services

    Digital Twin Platform | Healthcare Software Development | IoT development services | Digital Product Development

    Nitin
    Nitin Tappe After successful stint in a corporate role, Nitin is back to what he enjoys most – conceptualizing new software solutions to solve business problems. Nitin is a postgraduate from IIT, Mumbai, India and in his 24 years of career, has played key roles in building a desktop as well as enterprise solutions right from idealization to launch which are adopted by many Fortune 500 companies. As a Founder member of Pratiti Technologies, he is committed to applying his management learning as well as the passion for building new solutions to realize your innovation with certainty.

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